1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to software drivers for devices within a computer system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for automatically retrieving and installing software device drivers across a network.
2. Related Art
When a computer user installs a device, such as a video card, into a computer system, the installation process typically involves physically inserting the device into the computer system, and then installing appropriate driver software. This driver software is either retrieved from a driver library in the operating system or is alternatively loaded from a disk that is shipped with the device.
Providing driver software in either of these ways has disadvantages. First, the process of installing the driver software must be performed manually, typically by loading the driver software into the computer system from the disk, or by manually selecting the driver software from the driver library within the operating system. This manual installation process is time-consuming and it can present challenges for a novice computer user who is not familiar with the software installation process. In fact, the process of installing the driver software can take as long or longer than the process of physically installing the device into the computer system. Additionally, different versions of driver software may have to be provided for different operating systems and/or different computer systems. This often requires a manufacturer to ship a device with multiple versions of the driver software.
Another disadvantage is that driver software is typically out-dated by the time it is installed. The driver library in the operating system is the same age as the operating system. Hence, driver software from the driver library can potentially be many years old. Furthermore, if the device is new, a corresponding driver will not exist in the operating system""s driver library.
Even driver software shipped with a device can be out-dated. This is because the device and associated driver software can potentially sit on a store shelf or in the distribution chain for many months before being purchased. Another problem is that shipping driver software along with a device incurs additional cost. The cost of shipping the driver software can account for a significant fraction of the total cost for certain low cost devices, such as internal modems or scanners.
What is needed is a system that automatically retrieves and installs a current device driver when a corresponding device is installed in a computer system.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that retrieves and installs device driver software across a network. The system includes a detection mechanism that detects the presence of a device in a computer system for which no current driver is installed in the computer system. The system also includes a reading mechanism that reads a locator specifying the location of a current driver for the device from a non-volatile memory on the device. The system additionally includes a driver retrieving mechanism that uses the locator to communicate with a remote host across the network in order to retrieve the current driver for the device from the remote host. The system also includes an installation mechanism that installs the current driver on the computer system.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the locator includes a universal resource locator (URL) and the network includes the Internet. In another embodiment, the locator includes a telephone number and the network includes a telephone network.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the detection mechanism is configured to detect the presence of the device during a boot cycle following a power up of the computer system.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the installation mechanism is configured to install the current driver following a boot cycle of the computer system.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the installation mechanism is configured to reboot the computer system after installing the current driver.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a default driver for the device that is used by the computer system to operate the device in a restricted performance mode until the current driver is installed.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the detection mechanism is configured to detect the presence of an out-of-date driver for the device in the computer system. In this embodiment, the installation mechanism is configured to install an updated driver for the device. In a variation on this embodiment, the installation mechanism is configured to produce the updated driver by applying an update to the out-of-date driver.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the driver retrieving mechanism is configured to send an identifier for the computer system to the remote host so that the remote host can return a version of the current driver that is tailored to the computer system.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a device that facilitates retrieval and installation of a driver for the device across a network. The device includes a module with an interface that is configured so that it can be inserted into a computer system. A non-volatile memory is located within the module, and a locator is encoded in the non-volatile memory. This locator specifies a location on the network for a current driver for the device so that the computer system can use the locator to retrieve the current driver. This allows the current driver to be automatically installed in the computer system.